The Human Factor
by Isaac A. Drake
Summary: Upa always vowed to become a warrior like his family's savior, Son Goku. At fourteen he climbs Korin's Tower and then sets out to seek the Turtle School of Martial Arts. Two years before Raditz appears a new fighter enters the fray.


Author's Note: DBZ Kakarot really reinvigorated my flame for DBZ fanfic. So I might be updating some of those including crossovers more in the near future. Also I do not accept challenges. Period. Full stop. Please leave me alone.

Chapter 1: The Pilgrimage

Upa had decided long ago, when Son Goku saved he and his father from the Red Ribbon Army, that some day he would follow in Goku's footsteps as a powerful warrior, surpassing any of his tribe.

That however meant that upon his fourteenth birthday, a sacred birthday and the beginning of a coming of age period for his tribe, Upa wanted to do the improbable, he wanted to climb Korin's Tower.

He knew that if he could manage the feat he could gain his father's blessing to seek out the master of Son Goku for training. All the way clear on the other side of the continent.

The journey would be difficult, but he was sure he could make in in the span of a few months, he had been training to gain the strength necessary for the climb and had been trading with travelers to save currency for the trip itself since he was ten.

Yes, he would be the first of his tribe in many generations to complete the climb.

And so on the morning of his fourteenth birthday Upa, having not even unlocked a full connection to his inner ki, began the climb.

That is not to say that Upa was untalented, he was the best archer in his tribe, a mighty wielder of the stone ax, and a hunter and tracker of unprecedented skill almost as if he could sense the location of the wildlife.

And he could, he just did not yet understand how or why. The great warriors of his tribe had always had a natural inclination towards direct physical and sensory enhancements however, his father was immune to bullets and though Upa had never had the cause to test it he believed he had already reached that level himself.

The climb was arduous, Upa had packed water and some meat jerky in a satchel to fuel his body, but quickly the sun went down on the first day and just as quickly rose upon his second.

Eventually the third day passed as he continued his climb. Occasionally resting as much as he could without falling back down.

"S-surely I must be almost there?" Upa said out loud to the wind, "Goku said he only took two days to climb it, so it cannot be much longer."

It took Upa another two days, he had only been halfway up the tower when he questioned the distance. It was humbling to realize how much stronger than him Goku had been at a younger age.

Slowly, reaching for a strange tunnel he pulled himself up to the proper top of the tower, a dome held up by a circle of columns connected to a wide platform he had climbed underneath almost upside down at times over the past few hours.

The place...appeared empty. Upa searched around for a little while, "Hello? Is anyone around? Master Korin?"

Getting no response he walked over to some urns full of water along the wall.

Surely those couldn't be the Divine Water just sitting out in the open? He thought to himself.

As he peered into the urns he was suddenly assaulted by images. First of his father being killed by the assassin, followed by Goku's conflicts with the man and Bora's subsequent resurrection. Then he saw the world as if from above, and all of his training flashed before his eyes. Finally he saw a purple turtle shell get crushed underneath the foot of a ridiculously large tailed gorilla.

The Karinga teen stumbled back shaken.

"Well, well, it's been a few hundred years since I have seen a member of the Karinga Tribe up here, nyah. Why don't you come on up to the next floor to meet me."

Shaking and exhausted Upa climbed up to the next level to come face to face with...a large fluffy white cat.

Standing on its back legs. And holding a staff.

"Ah..." His manners and reverence he had been raised with soon overcame his shock and he bowed deeply, "It is an honor to meet you oh great hermit sage."

"Ooh a polite one! Haven't had one of those any time recently. Goku and his friends are all a bit rude, never stay to chat anymore."

Honestly Upa was unsure of what to make of the cat, but he was willing to just follow along.

"Oh great Korin! It is to honor Goku, who revived my father with the sacred Dragon Balls that I have trained and climbed this tower! I wish to drink the Divine Water and travel to seek training at the Turtle School of Martial Arts just like Son Goku!"

The cat tilted his head to the side, "My, you're quite the serious one aren't you? Very well. To drink the Divine Water...you must first take it from me," With that, quicker than his eyes could see, Korin disappeared from view and was suddenly on the other side of the room with a pitcher of water hanging off of his staff.

"Well?" He said after a moment, "Come and get it, Upa."

Not even questioning how the cat knew his name he charged forward and grabbed the water.

Only to discover that Korin had moved so quickly he had left a false image behind in his wake.

"Wh-what?"

"Oh? Never seen an Afterimage Technique before? Goku had that one down before he ever got up here. Seems like you might be here a few years like his master, that Roshi fellow. Not just a few days like your hero."

Ah, Upa thought, I am being taunted by a cat. Who may or may not also be a god.

He however remained calm, as if on the hunt, and leapt forward this time, anticipating that Korin would move behind him. As soon as he landed he launched himself backwards and twisted in midair...only to fly through a second afterimage.

"Ooh, but aren't you a cunning one? At least I'm going to have a few years of entertainment. Would have been boring if you'd been the brute force kind of guy, just pushing and pushing until your muscles eventually caught up."

He dodged three more attempts by Upa. And the pattern continued. At one point Upa even tried to fire arrows to knock the water free, smashed a pot and used the debris as a distraction, and tried to angle Korin so that the sun got into the cats eyes.

A note on that last one, Upa discovered that Korin was doing the entire exercise with his eyes closed.

Which gave him an idea for the next day, because the setting sun had been what he had tried to angle at the cat.

"Well that was an entertaining first day, kid," The cat stated with a yawn, "But I'm about ready for tonight's catnap so we'll continue in the morning.

And so they settled in for the night, Upa was completely exhausted by this point and gladly let sleep take him for the night.

Only to wake up to the great sage Korin dumping his deerskin satchel off the side of the tower, his axe included.

"Why did you just do that Master Korin?" Upa bemoaned upon collecting himself enough to remain polite.

"Hmm...I suppose you'll have to go fetch that now, oops."

Upa stared at the cat-sage in confusion and frustration, "I..." the boy let out a deep sigh, "As you wish Master Korin."

And so down the tower he began to climb.

"Hmm..." The sage muttered to himself, "That boy may be too polite even. He needs to learn to stand up for himself."

Climbing down was a simpler task for Upa, a mere three days. And once he found his satchel, his father had seen it at the bottom of the tower and collected it, he climbed right back up after a quick meal.

This time the climb up took a mere three days, the climb itself was making him stronger.

In fact, as he returned to his attempts to get the water from Korin he noticed that he was noticeably faster, and closer to catching the cat.

After this observation Upa decided to put his theory to the test.

Suddenly, after another round of Korin escaping his grasp with an afterimage, Upa stopped and went to sit crosslegged by the wall of the dome.

"Eh? Giving up? Thinking up a new strategy?" The cat sage questioned.

But Upa did not answer, instead he meditated. A few times as he had been on the hunt it had felt as if he could sense his prey when he had no reason to know where they should be. He latched onto that feeling and tried to bring it to the front of his mind.

Three hours of meditation later it clicked, something inside of him had a eureka moment. And he could sense everything.

Well, everything living within a dozen or so meters of him.

But it was an improvement.

He went back into combat with a renewed vigor that surprised Korin, but not as surprising as when his next afterimage failed to trick Upa.

"Oh ho! So you've figured something new out I see?" He began to taunt, "Well you still need to be faster to catch me!"

It took another week and two more impromptu trips down the tower, but Upa caught Korin and drank the water, only for it to be revealed that the Divine Water was not the method for unlocking power, it was the climb and the training to catch the water that unlocked his power and potential.

Upa thanked the sage most profusely, and then quickly parkoured down the tower with his newfound strength. Ready to seek out the Turtle School of Martial Arts.


End file.
